Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Notre-Dame de Presles chapel, located in Marcilly-en-Bassigny in the Haute-Marne department, is a 12th-century religious building, although its Gothic style suggests later transformations in the 14th century. It has been classified as a Historic Monument since 9 July 1909 and is distinguished by its vaulted crypt in a broken cradle, sheltering a well-known miraculous source. This place has long attracted pilgrims to venerate a statuette of the Virgin Mary, now missing or not mentioned in recent sources.

According to a local legend, a pâtre had discovered a statuette of the Virgin Mary after he noticed that one of her ox was systematically returning to the same place, where the grass was growing abnormally fast. After being transported to the village church, the statue would have returned three times to its discovery site, which would have motivated the construction of the chapel. This account illustrates the symbolic importance of the site to the inhabitants and faithful of the region.

The chapel is part of a rural context marked by a strong agricultural tradition, as evidenced by the presence of a 17th-century tithe-grange in the village. Marcilly-en-Bassigny, a rural commune in Bassigny, is also close to Langres, town of Art and History, and Bourbonne-les-Bains, spa. These elements underline the spiritual, historical and community role of the chapel in this fertile region of the Great East.

The site, surrounded by greenery, remains a place of recollection and visit, attracting visitors every year for its architectural heritage and its history linked to medieval pilgrimages. The chapel thus embodies a precious testimony of the religious and cultural life of the Haute-Marne, between local legends and medieval heritage.

Available sources, including Wikipedia and Monumentum, confirm its ranking among the Historical Monuments and its status as an emblematic place of local heritage. No additional information is provided on any sponsors or specific historical events related to its initial construction in the 12th century.

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